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Royal family rivals face a TV duel

FRANCE is contemplating the extraordinary possibility of a husband and wife debating each other on television in the fight to win their Socialist party’s nomination as candidate in next year’s presidential elections.

A Socialist “summer university”, which opened in the western port of La Rochelle yesterday, was abuzz with speculation about a television showdown between Ségolène Royal, the frontrunner in the opinion polls, and François Hollande, the father of her four children, after he refused to rule himself out of the race.

Royal, 52, has a 30-point lead in the polls over five male rivals for the nomination including Hollande, her common-law husband and the party secretary-general. They have refused to stand aside as they regard Royal, a former minister under President François Mitterrand, as too inexperienced to run the country.

Details are yet to be arranged but three televised debates are expected to be held among the contenders before